Italy's Ballon d'Or nominee Sofia Cantore readies for NWSL debut with Washington Spirit

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It's nearing the 91st minute, and Italian striker Sofia Cantore is moving with the ball through Norway's defensive third with purpose. She zigs and she zags, before a narrow opening appears. In the distance, Italy's captain Cristiana Girelli is waving Cantore down, as she's running towards goal.
Cantore delivers a perfect cross to Girelli, who, with one swift movement, scores confidently with her head. Italy is on its way to the European Championship semifinal for the first time in 28 years.
'When the referee (blew their) whistle at the end against Norway, and we understood that we were in the semi-final, I had a reaction,' 25-year-old Cantore tells The Athletic. 'It was very emotional, because we understood what we had done.'
The weight of the moment was apparent. Players embraced. Others collapsed, sobbing. The emotional whirlwind evolved into viral singalongs outside Stade de Geneve in Switzerland, as La Azzurre belted out Natasha Bedingfield's 'Unwritten' into the night. While Italy suffered heartbreaking semifinal loss to England six days later, Cantore and her teammates returned home as heroes, sparking an excitement for women's soccer that feels unprecedented.
Cantore spoke exclusively with The Athletic on Thursday in Leesburg, Virginia, hours after being nominated for the Ballon d'Or for the first time. She is preparing for an unprecedented move of her own.
In June, Cantore signed a three-year contract with the Washington Spirit, on the tails of one of her best seasons ever for Juventus. This weekend, Cantore is likely to become the first Italian player to debut in the National Women's Soccer League, as head coach Adrián González confirmed her availability for Saturday's match with Gotham FC.
For Cantore, playing in a league like the NWSL was always part of the plan.
While the sport has recently grown leaps and bounds at club level, it only turned professional in Italy in 2022. Playing abroad in an established first-division league like the NWSL has obvious perks.
'There was always the idea (for) my career to do an experience outside of Italy, also in NWSL,' Cantore said. 'I wanted to join this championship because I'm a really curious person, and I like to do new things, so I'm very excited to be here.'
Since arriving in Washington, D.C., Cantore says she's felt 'good energy and good vibes,' with the team helping her adjust to this new city. She was at Audi Field this past weekend, supporting the team through their 2-1 win against the Portland Thorns, basking in the stadium's rowdy atmosphere. She joined training for the first time on Wednesday, and has started leaning into the Spirit's style of play.
'I'm here to learn as much as possible,' Cantore says. 'It's tough because the intensity is high, so I'm trying to put myself into it and understand what the coach is asking me and what he asks of the team. I'm happy, and I just want to play.'
Cantore, a native of Lecco in northern Italy, started playing football at six years old. She first represented La Azzurre in 2015 at Under-17 level, before moving up to the U19s and the senior team in 2020. She's become a mainstay since; starting every match at the recent Euros.
Cantore began her career with then third-tier Fiammamonza in 2015, helping them gain promotion to Serie B Femminile, before getting a shot at Serie A. In 2017, aged 17, she signed with Juventus. Cantore's time in Turin, plagued briefly by a bout of injuries, helped raise her.
Two years after joining, Cantore suffered an ACL injury. 'It's something that made me grow up a lot,' she says. After this, she'd go on loan for three seasons to Hellas Verona, Florentia and Sassuolo. Her 2022 season with Sassuolo ended prematurely, after she fractured a bone in her ankle.
'It was not easy to go back to Juventus after this injury, and I felt a lot of pressure because the expectation was high,' Cantore said. She still struggles with the idea that she maybe rushed herself back too soon, impacting performances on the pitch. But these were valuable lessons, she says, in retrospect.
'All of this is something that helped me to keep a balance between … bad (moments) and moments that are extremely good,' Cantore said. 'Last season was the best season of my career, and I had a lot of emotions about that. Of course, I have to say thanks to Juventus, because they waited for me.'
Cantore found her way back to the pitch after every setback. Across her eight years in Italy, she recorded more than 40 goals and 20 assists over 120 appearances. She also scored twice during Juventus' 2024-25 Women's Champions League campaign.
Her performances for club and country in the last year earned her a coveted Ballon d'Or nomination, which she received alongside Girelli.
An attacking threat with a knack of finding holes in the tightest of spaces, Cantore is an exciting prospect for the Spirit. Her highlight reel demonstrates a similar theme: scoring, whatever the cost. Last season against Napoli, Cantore managed to gain control of a ball in front of goal while on her knees. As defenders and the goalkeeper scrambled to react, she scored.
At the Euros, her ability to create was most evident in that 2-1 quarterfinal win against Norway with Cantore providing both assists to Girelli. In the NWSL, Cantore knows her role means scoring, making assists and helping however she can. Simply put, she says, 'I'm here to win with this team.'
There is much for NWSL fans to learn about Cantore as the remainder of this season plays out.
She's considered 'the DJ' of her national team, and speaks English well because she learned it in middle school. It helped, too, having Australian coach Joe Montemurro at Juventus, who spoke English with players. Eventually, Cantore wants to earn a degree in nutritional science, but for now football 'is life.'
Moving to the U.S. also came with an unexpected bonus, as her older brother is a biologist in the D.C. area. Their careers have long kept them apart, with Cantore focused on football and her brother, who turns 30 this year, concentrated on his studies.
If you ask Cantore who her heroes were growing up, though, her answer will come with a disclaimer. Growing up an Inter fan, her favorite player was Argentine striker Diego Milito, who, like Cantore, was gifted in front of goal. Once she turned 15 or 16, she remembers her attention turning to players in the United States, like USWNT legends Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan.
Young girls like Cantore didn't have access to see the many Italian greats they could have looked up to, as she explains. 'To make you understand, in Italy, we didn't know (Cristiana) Girelli or (Martina) Rosucci or (Barbara) Bonansea, or (Sara) Gama — maybe Gama because she went to play abroad (at Paris Saint-Germain) — but we didn't have the possibility to look at them,' Cantore says.
Some of these players became Cantore's teammates, but by coming before her didn't enjoy the same visibility or resources that are becoming more prevalent today.
Despite its slow progress, women's football has a long history in Italy. While the first official Women's World Cup dates to 1991, one of earliest versions of a women's world championship between national teams took place in Italy as early as 1970.
Fast forward to 2019, Italy's performance in the women's World Cup that year sparked a movement to professionalize the sport back home. That's when, in 2020, the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) announced that Serie A Femminile would achieve professional status by 2022. Until that season, players were considered amateur athletes.
This changed a lot for the players, Cantore says, but there's still plenty that can improve, particularly as it pertains to the public perception of women's football in Italy and the structures surrounding the sport. She compared the sport to a start-up, and how, while the early investment is there, uncertainty lingers over its future and stability.
'Our federation is doing a great job, but I think we need more of those things,' Cantore said, listing a few examples, 'because we have to be able also to make the stadium full of people, and we are not able (to do that) for the moment.
'But we know, also, that, in the future, we will have to do the same results, or even better, to make women's soccer in Italy great.'
When asked how she feels knowing today's generation of Italian fans will have her to look up to, Cantore answers humbly. 'It's something that makes me proud, but, also, it's something that's strange for me, like, yeah, now it's me.'
That next generation has already started showing up in D.C., where Cantore says she saw a young fan wearing her Juventus jersey at Audi Field. 'It's special,' Cantore says, to have fans that see her and 'know who I am or who we are.'
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Italy, NWSL, Women's Soccer, Women's Euros
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